


Unfinished Business

by yourviolentlackofvirtue



Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, could be either platonic or romantic depending on how you want to look at it, i'm new and bad at tagging i'm sorry, post Endgame, reworking of a scene from Battlestar Galactica
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 04:10:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6500254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourviolentlackofvirtue/pseuds/yourviolentlackofvirtue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was just as surprised as everyone else when he threw the first punch, his fist connected with her jaw in a rather sloppy right hook that lacked any of his usual careful, precision but still stung like a bitch all the same.</p><p>The room fell into stunned silence as Artemis ran her tongue over the split in her lip and she let out a breath of laughter when she recognised the metallic taste of blood. “The truth stings, doesn’t it Boy Wonder?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unfinished Business

**Author's Note:**

> This is a reworking of the fight scene between Lee and Kara in episode 3x09 of Battlestar Galactica because I've always wanted a reason to re-write this scene with a different pairing, and the parallel between the characters was too good to pass up.
> 
> Title comes from the name of the episode.

“Alright, training’s over.” Black Canary called out, helping Cassie up off the ground and glaring at Roy – Arsenal – whatever they were calling him now. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“So what, you’re just going to call it?” Artemis took a step in her direction, her face screwing up in a mix of frustration and distaste.

“Not enough excitement for one night for you, Artemis?” Canary’s voice invited no discussion and after staring at Artemis for a few more moments she continued out of the training room, supporting a disconcertingly limp Cassie.

Artemis looked around as the rest of the team started to collect the few things they’d bought with them and head towards one of the three exits. She saw Dick pick up his unused water bottle and towel and follow in Canary’s footsteps without sparing a second glance for any of them.

Her words felt like fire in her throat. “Hey. Hey! Where the hell do you think you’re going?” She called after him.

A few of the team members stopped and turned towards them; others froze where they were, not needing superpowers to sense that something pretty major was about to go down.

Artemis had been biting her tongue and swallowing her words since Dick had walked into the Watchtower yesterday. She’d resisted the urge to walk up and punch him right in the face, hoping that she could use sparring training as an excuse to do it instead, at least that way she wouldn’t get in trouble for it.

“It’s over, ‘Mis.” He sounded tired but she didn’t care, she’d psyched herself up for a fight and she’d be damned if she just let it walk right out the door. 

“Like hell it is!” He still hadn’t turned around, so she went and stood in front of him, forcing him to look at her. “You’re not team leader any more, Dick. You gave up any right you had to boss us around nearly a year ago when you ran off to sleep with half the east coast.”

For a moment his features twisted as if she’d physically struck him and it felt pretty good but she wanted more – she wanted to kick and scratch and punch, she wanted to leave visible marks of her anger.

She was just as surprised as everyone else when he threw the first punch, his fist connected with her jaw in a rather sloppy right hook that lacked any of his usual careful, precision but still stung like a bitch all the same.

The room fell into stunned silence as Artemis ran her tongue over the split in her lip and she let out a breath of laughter when she recognised the metallic taste of blood. “The truth stings, doesn’t it Boy Wonder?”

“You wanted a fight Artemis, well you’ve got one.” He threw his things down and moved back onto the mat.

She rolled her shoulders back as she walked over to join him. Pretty much the whole team was back in the room, crowding around the mat, and Artemis ignored the worried glances most of the team members were directing towards them.

“If you insist on doing this then I would ask that you refrain from using weapons.” Kaldur stepped closer to them, his was voice soft but still it still held the air of authority which came as part of being team leader.

Dick nodded and Artemis handed her weapons over to Kaldur – she hadn’t intended on using them anyway but that was beside the point.

When it came to hand to hand combat the two of them had always been a fairly even match, which was why Artemis was surprised that she’d been able to get in a few good punches before Dick even got his hands up. A murmur ran through the group and Dick shook his head, trying to clear it. Artemis dodged a few punches before landing some more of her own.

She held out her arms as if to offer him a free shot and laughed, there was no joy in the sound though.

“Come on. What, are you afraid to hit me?” She taunted him before she dropped the joking tone altogether. “Or maybe you just can’t.”

Dick’s jaw clenched and he threw a punch that actually managed to land – the move was so erratic that Artemis couldn’t have anticipated it even if she’d tried, and it took her by surprise enough to knock her off her feet.

She hit the ground hard, her left elbow taking the brunt of the fall. The sound that come from her mouth was somewhere between a grunt and a growl.

 _Get up, Artemis. Get up! You can do this._ Artemis looked around and met Conner’s eyes when she heard his voice in her head and he nodded – she knew if anyone understood how she felt and why she was fighting so hard it was him.

Artemis returned the nod and took a deep breath before she swung a leg around and took Dick’s right out from underneath him. She revelled in the look of surprise on his face as she got back to her feet – Artemis had been trained to do whatever it took to win a fight and she wasn’t above fighting dirty.

“Oops, did I break the rules?” She feigned innocence and let him get back up.

“Why don’t you tell me what this is really about, huh?” Dick almost looked a little tired as he dodged a few of her punches and a roundhouse kick that would have knocked him back on his ass if it had connected.

“Don’t play dumb Dick, you know what this is about.” She winced when her left hook missed, both because of the frustration of missing him again and the pain in her elbow that hadn’t quite gone away from when she’d landed on it. “You ran away.”

“I made my choice.” That made Artemis angry enough that her next punch drew blood.

Dick roughly wiped away the blood that trickled down from his nose, and after his next punch Artemis was sure she was going to have a black eye for at least a week.

≃

“What’s going on?” Bruce asked as he entered the Watchtower security room.

He’d been less than thrilled when Oliver called him away from a function, but the mention of Dick was enough to motivate him. Since he’d gotten back from his sudden and extended trip about a week ago, Bruce had been keeping an eye on him, making sure the boy was okay and paying close enough attention so that he could be there if he wasn’t.

“What’s it look like?” Oliver indicated towards the screen, and at a glance it showed a normal sparring session, part of the team’s training. 

But then Bruce looked a bit closer. Initially he just focused on Dick; his moves were sloppy and he was the tiniest bit slower than normal but he figured that had to do with the fact he hadn’t properly trained in months. Then he turned his attention to Artemis; her moves were executed with precision but it was the moves themselves that bothered him – they were more aggressive than they needed to be. 

“It looks like they’re trying to kill each other.” He noted as it dawned on him – both Dick and Artemis had never been known for pulling punches when they sparred against one another but this time it actually looked like they wanted to hurt each other.

“That’s one perspective.”

Oliver laughed and Bruce nodded because it wasn’t just a fight, even seeing it through the security cameras he could tell that even though they were using their fists, they were having a conversation.

≂

The fight had slowed down quite considerably, both of them having grown tired but still unwilling to call it quits and admit defeat. The punches came slower and slower, kicks were few and far between, and there hadn’t been a single acrobatic stunt in nearly ten minutes. More than half the team had left and only a few remained scattered around the edges of the mat – almost all of them were from their original team, Artemis noticed.

Artemis threw a lazy punch that had no chance of doing any damage, let alone landing, and Dick caught hold of her arm and pulled her towards him. She struggled to break free but was too tired to put up much of a fight as Dick pressed closer to her – it was a smart move because she couldn’t get a good hit in even if she’d actually tried.

“Let go of me.” She muttered, throwing a light jab that did little in the way of hurting or deterring him.

“Why?” He asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and closing the remaining space between them. “So you can hit me some more?”

“Yeah.” She answered automatically; the ‘duh’ was implied.

They shuffled around the mat for a little while, Artemis trying to break free and Dick trying to keep her where she was. Their exhaustion had started to catch up with them though, and soon enough they were leaning into each other just to stay off the ground. 

“I may not be able to walk anymore.” Dick told her with a small laugh, his words coming out between deep, shaky breaths.

“I think you busted my nose.” She replied, she could still feel the pain but it was a dull throbbing in the background of her mind as she focused on the fact that she could actually feel his heart pounding in his chest because of how close they were.

“How about we call it a tie, huh?” If it had been under any other circumstances she might have laughed at how desperate he sounded.

“Okay.” Artemis tried to nod but it didn’t really work out all that well for her.

Having agreed to call it quits both of them dropped all pretences of this still being a fight. Artemis wound her free arm around his waist and Dick let go of her other one so she could wrap it around his shoulders. He dropped his head into the crook of her neck and hugged her tighter. Artemis was perfectly aware of the stares they were garnering from their team mates but she couldn’t find it within herself to care, she was too busy trying to stop both of them from ending up on their asses again.

Dick let out a deep sigh and Artemis still wanted to be mad at him, she really did, but he seemed just as broken as she did and that in itself was worse than anything she could ever have inflicted on him. 

After what happened to Wally she needed someone to lean on, and she guessed she’d kind of assumed that person was going to be Dick. He’d been Wally’s best friend, and besides Batman Wally was probably the person Dick trusted most in the world. They’d both been so inextricably linked to the speedster that Artemis had figured they would have to get each other through it.

But then Dick disappeared, he didn’t even show up for the funeral, and Artemis hadn’t known how to let anyone else help her – it just seemed like Dick was the only one who’d be able to fully understand what she was going through. She’d understood that he needed to grieve in his own way, but she needed him and he was just gone.

In her mind she hadn’t just lost Wally – she’d lost Dick too – and she didn’t know how to cope with both of them being gone. That was when she’d gotten angry, because it was easier than being sad and a lot less painful than admitting that she was lonely.

“I missed you.” She told him, her voice thick with every emotion she’d been trying not to feel since she found out he was gone.

Artemis felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest, one that she hadn’t even known was there until the relief of its absence hit her. She felt like her legs were about to give out from underneath her, but she hugged him tighter, trying to convey how much she meant it through her actions because she’d never been great with words.

When he responded he didn’t lift his head, instead he exhaled the words into her shoulder.

“I missed you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first time ever writing anything for the Young Justice fandom and if you made it all the way to the end I just wanted to say thanks.
> 
> So, thank you for reading.


End file.
